Manchester ‘may be forced into tier three’
City’s mayor and regional leaders threaten legal action if measures are imposed ‘without consent’
BORIS JOHNSON looked set to place Manchester and Lancashire under the toughest tier of local restrictions last night, despite threats of legal action.
Downing Street officials are expected to meet Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, this morning to discuss placing the region into tier three lockdown after a meeting of health advisers last night.
It is understood those present at the “gold command” meeting recommended that large swathes of the North East and North West join Liverpool in the “very high alert” tier, along with parts of Yorkshire and the Midlands.
A final decision is expected today by Mr Johnson and senior Cabinet ministers following meetings with local leaders. Matt Hancock, t he Health Secretary, is due to provide a coronavirus update to MPS.
It came as the Welsh First Minister suggested he was prepared to put police on the border to stop English visitors from lockdown areas entering as he announced new travel restrictions due to come into effect tomorrow. Mark Drakeford also hinted he could soon return to Wales’s previous “Stay Local” law which prevented people travelling more than five miles from their homes.
In comments that are believed to have angered UK ministers, Mr Drakeford later warned that people trying to evade Welsh police would be met by a “population that are fearful, that are anxious and are on the lookout for people who shouldn’t be in those areas”.
Ahead of today’s announcement, Mr Johnson used Prime Minister’s Questions to urge Sir Keir Starmer to “get on to” Labour mayors in the north of England and convince them to accept further restrictions. However, with ministers facing resistance unless additional financial support is provided, No 10 yesterday warned it would impose measures if necessary “to reduce transmission and to protect the NHS”.
Tensions escalated when Mr Burnham warned legal action would be considered if the region went into tier three by “imposition, not consent”.
Earlier, in a joint statement, leaders of the region’s local authorities argued infection rates and hospital admissions remained “much lower” than Liverpool.
With people in Covid-19 hotspots in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland barred from entering Wales from tomorrow, a Senedd source yesterday confirmed police would enforce the travel ban and be authorised to issue fines.
Mr Drakeford said his decision to implement the ban came after Mr Johnson twice failed to respond to his letters, which he said was “not respectful”.
He was endorsed by Nicola Sturgeon, who said she would write to Mr Johnson to “seek urgent talks on the issue”.
Scotland’s First Minister l ater tweeted: “These are public health decisions and nothing to do with constitut i onal or political debates.” She confirmed her government would “also take whatever action we consider necessary to control Covid”.
She singled out Blackpool as an area to be avoided due to its association “with a large and growing number of Covid cases in Scotland”.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland’s First Minister announced a month-long circuit breaker after recording a further 1,217 cases and four more deaths with Covid-19 yesterday. Arlene Foster confirmed that from tomorrow half-term would be extended, overnight stays in other homes would be banned and pubs and restaurants would only remain open if they offered takeaways. Places of worship, shops and gyms would stay open.
She said: “The executive has taken this decision because it is necessary, and we discussed the impacts in great detail. We do not take this step lightly.”